Acceptance
by DustyStroodle228
Summary: Leonora has seen her brother die in front of her eyes and watched her entire life crash down on top of her. Now she must find strength within herself and some newly found friends to stand up for what is right and find herself within others.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the amazing ideas of Graceling or the books or settings that are mentioned. However I did make up most of the characters. But not all of them **

Hey you guys. This is my very first Graceling fanfic. Frist let me tell you that I haven't read Fire yet. BUT I am going too soon. Second, I will only write if I get comments. I don't care if two hundred people read my story but if I don't get comments I will not write. I don't want to be mean but if I get no comments I think that no one likes it and I have self pity. Third, This takes place a few years after Graceling in Wester and King Birn has just been mysterious killed and a new king has arose and his king is not very fond of Gracelings. So, please comment good things because I need the self confidence. Without further to do…the first chapter of **Acceptance. **

When you are accepted into society it means that everyone around knows your there for a reason. And the only reason people look at you spitefully is because of what you did, not who you are. But when you are born like me, you are not accepted, and all you long for is acceptance.

My name is Leonora Morgan Drake and I am Graced.

I live in Wester, west of Middluns, south of Nander and north of Sunder. I was always known as a _Tardi Studente, _or in other words, a late bloomer. For example, I spent the first four years of my life in the loving arms of my mother, father, and five siblings. However, it was in late April when my eyes faded. My right eye turned deep read, like the color of dried blood, and my left eye turned black. That's it, pure black, so that you can hardly see my pupil.

The morning my parents saw me my mother nearly fainted. Hearing the screams from outside, my older sister, Lira, came rushing in to see what the matter was. With shaky hands she held up her hand mirror and reveled to me my reflection. At first I didn't believe that it was I looking back at myself. I laughed, thinking it was a cruel joke, pulled by one of my brothers. Nonetheless my family's expression didn't cease. Soon tears streamed down my face and Lira wrapped me into a tight hug, telling me that everything was going to be okay. But nothing would ever be okay again. Ever.

My parents initial plan was to put me on bed rest, in hopes that they could claim that I came down with a serious illness. Since my father was a doctor, it worked for a while. Weeks went by and all I did was sit in bed, hoping that no outsider would come to check on me.

You see, after King Birn's mysterious death a new king came to rule, King Ekain. Supposedly he was Kind Birn's nephew and the closest heir to the throne. Now, it was ruled by the king that whenever a Graced child was discovered that they had to be brought straight to him. Not following this rule could be punished by death for the entire family and anyone who brought in a Graceling from a family who disobeyed the rule was greatly rewarded.

To avoid this as much as possible one of King Ekain's men came to inspect each family at least once every two months. By the beginning of May my parents knew that their time was limited and they had to think up of a better plan. They decided that in an attempt to save me my eldest brother, Reus, would attempt to take me across the water into Lienid territory, where I would be safe.

That night I filled my backpack with anything that could fit into such a small space. My books, my blanket, my doll, and everything else a five-year-old thought she would need. Luckliy Reus was older and wiser then me and pack everything we would really need, with some help from the family of course.

The next night was a time of sorrow and despair. I had to say good bye to my best friends, my family. From Lira, the second eldest, strong and courageous, too the twins Griffin and Ophelia who were never separated and the most adventurous. And then too little Addie who was the closest in age to me, full of energy and enthusiasm.

Lastly I said goodbye to my parents. I had never seen my father cry besides that moment. And at that moment, I cracked. I flung myself into my father's firm arms and cried and cried. Finally I let go of my father and faced my mother. She knelt down to my level and intertwined her hands to mine. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, her hands cold and shaky. She didn't say anything but to me that one gesture was enough. Once she released my hands in their place she left a gold necklace. On it was a heart shaped charm. Engraved into it was "_Remember you always belong somewhere". _

Reus and I exchanged one last sorrowful goodbye and we left, aware that we may never see them again.

The trip was long and dreadful. Cold winds whipped through the night sky and our only light source was the stars plastered above us. Even the moon was not to be seen tonight. Farther ahead of us Reus and I could see a light shining, like from a lantern. Unsure if we should continue ahead we stopped and waited. We waited for something to happen, but we didn't know what.

The light started heading towards us at an alarming pace, which was a signal for us to get out of there as soon as possible. Since I was to slow to run , Reus picked me up and carried me on his shoulder. It was then that it all happened to fast. An arrow was shot and then blood was coming out of Reus' shoulder. As soon as we hit the ground three men surrounded us, all dressed in Wester colors, a sign that they were sent by the king.

For a while they simply stared. One held up the lantern to inspect what just happened. I laid ther motionless letting the salty tears fall down my face. I clung to Reus as he laid there clutching his shoulder and whimpering in pain. I didn't know what to do. I looked up at the three men's faces. All Graced. The man with the arrows had one blue and one green eye, Graced with archery was my guess. He had sandy brown hair that was perfectly cut and he had high cheek bones. The man in the middle was holding the lantern. He had one gold eye and one emerald eye. A long silver scar ran across his right emerald eye and down his chin. He looked young, maybe 19 or 20, and had long messy brunette hair. The third man was partly hidden in the shadows with one red eye and one purple eye. He had clean shaven black hair and I could make out a small stubble on his chin.

After what felt like hours the black haired man scooped me up over his shoulder and they started walking away. Away from my dieing brother. Away from my life, my family, my everything. I hung on to the necklace that my mother gave me and swore that I would never forget that day, and that I would never forget that someone turned my family in. Someone who I trusted, I just knew it. So I vowed to never trust another living soul again. Ever.

_Acceptance. _

SOOOOOOO….how did you guys like it? IF you have a bad comment I guess that you can comment it but I would wish you didn't . anyway I am hoping for 4 comments before I write the next chapter. That's right FOUR. That's it. SO if you really like it so far please comment. Pretty please .

P.S: Sorry if I got any detail wrong from the book, if you could please just roll with it or if it is that big of a deal I will change it for you. Oh and sorry of any typos I am writing this and 12:23am so I am pretty tired. Anyways Please Comment.

Peace. Love. Dusty.

(O_0)

If you read this please comment: Any names you would like me to use…..any graces you would like me to use…any stories you would like me to read….anything else you want me to know…Nice weather we are having.


	2. Bleeding Chest

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the amazing ideas of Graceling or the books or settings that are mentioned. However I did make up most of the characters. But not all of them **

**Hey welcome to chapter two of Acceptance. Thanks for the comment from sugarball who inspired me to write this next chapter. Also I want to thank Gypsy Star who also helped me continue to write. PS to Gypsy Star thanks for the advice and I totally know what you mean. I wasn't really not going to write if I didn't get those reviews I just wanted to see if it would happen. But thanks for commenting anyway and I'm glad you liked it. Anyway, the first chapter was a kinda prologue so please tell me if you need clarifying of where this chapter starts. But to clarify Leonora was captured by castle people and is now at the castle of King Ekain. I will write as soon as I can but I have like 15,000 hours of school work to do so yeah. Here we go. **

** :D**

The cold stony walls rushed past me as I maneuvered my way through the hallways of the castle. I could hear the small taps of footsteps close behind me. Sweat dripping down my face I immediately turned a corner keeping tight to the wall. Around me it was quiet. The phrase _so quiet you can hear a pin drop _would have fit in perfectly to my situation. I struggled to regain my breath as I leaned against the wall for support. Maybe, just maybe, I lost him.

Silently I crept around the corner to clarify my hopes. With a sigh of relief I slumped against the wall onto the floor. _What did I get myself into? _I thought to myself. Suddenly I heard heavy footsteps come stumbling down the hallway._ Damn_. Hastily I leaped up from my position and ran the opposite way of the footsteps. I glanced over my shoulder to see a shadow of my predator coming toward me.

I tried focusing on simply making my feet go quicker to avoid capture. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, take a breath, right foot. You get the picture. I centered my gaze at my feet, determined not to trip, as I have done before.

My steadfast focus was broken when I approached a fork in the hallways. I wavered for only a second before deciding to go left. Turning I discovered my path was blocked by a tall man wearing a long black jacket and black pants. He was obviously someone of great wealth and upper status. I momentary looked up at his chocolate brown eyes, humble and welcoming. He took his hand and held it up to his head as if he was injured. I took a deep breath and met his eyes trying to show that I was brave and not afraid of him, although inside I was terrified.

The man smiled and brought his hand down to his chest, close to his heart. I looked at him confused but he simply smiled bigger. As he removed his hand from his chest I noticed that protruding from his chest was a thick red liquid. It took me a second to realize that the liquid was blood. The man noticed my shocked expression; he looked down at me, touched his bleeding chest once more, smiled warmly and openly, and placed his fingers to my forehead. Then, as if taken by the wind, he vanished. Before I could even process what just happened I found myself on the floor with weight crashing down on me.

"Finally, I caught you!" the voice proclaimed proudly. I managed to turn my head around enough to see that it was Roland, a young servant around my age whom I became friendly with. His family lives on the castle grounds close to the fortress. "I can't believe it after all those times I tried, I finally got you." Roland continued to brag. I zoned off from his boasting to think back to the man. Nothing made much sense to me now-a-days. Maybe the man was just my imagination, or maybe he was something more. While my thoughts became deeper I just barely noticed the weight being lifted from my back.

"What's wrong with you today?" Roland asked combing his hand through his sandy blonde hair. I stood up and brushed the dirt from my skirt. Cocking my head to one side I pretended to not understand what he was talking about. "Please Nora, we've known each other for how many years now and you still don't think I know when you act strangely?" He crossed his arms across his chest in a huff.

I sighed; he knew that I hated to be called Nora. Rolling my eyes I couldn't help but smirk at his pouted face. He only stared me down harder. Meeting his gaze we stood there motionless for a while until we both broke out into laughter.

"Come on," I said to Roland as I patted him on the shoulder, "we'd better get back or I'll be running away from someone who might actually frighten me."

"What, are you saying that I'm not scary?" Roland mocked being upset, "I'm absolutely frightening!" He stomped his foot to the ground with the last three words. I had to admit, he wasn't a bad actor, but his eyes said it all. I creased my eyebrows and looked at him disbelievingly.

Suddenly, Roland's eyes became wider and focused on something behind me. "What?" I asked thinking it to be a joke. Slowly I lifted my hand behind my head to come in contact with a solid figure. I turned to look up into the eyes of King Ekain's right hand man, Raul. His sharp blue eyes pierced through my skin and I could feel the color being drained from my face.

"The Lord King Ekain requests your presence," he spoke sternly. I nodded and glance over my shoulder to find that Roland had disappeared. It seems that people are more scared of Raul then the king himself. Briskly I followed Raul to the king's corridors. I centered my attention to the walls, which were decorated with paintings of past royal kings, queens, and other royal figures. People who passed us purposely made a detour to avoid the Graceling and the king's right hand man. I attempted to figure out if they were more afraid of me or Raul.

Every time I stole a peek at Raul I noticed that he kept his eyes straight and emotionless. Not once did his stare falter. As we finally reached the throne room Raul pushed open the heavy wooden doors to reveal the king sitting on his throne. Every time I entered this room I left with bad news so I knew this wouldn't be good. The room had a dark, malevolent feel to it. The dark walls made you feel as if they would squash you if they had the chance and the painting seemed to be watching your every move.

Raul pushed me forward and motioned for me to bow to the king. I grabbed the hem of my skirt so that I could curtsy in respect to him.

"Please, straightened up," King Ekain said in a polite voice, but I knew better then to fully stand straight. So I replaced my curtsy position with a slight bow, making sure to keep my eyes centered on the ground. "You realize that not many Gracelings are requested to my throne room, yes child."

"Yes, my Lord King." I responded. As long as I kept my answers simple, I would be gone from here.

"So you know that this is a great honor child?"

"Yes my Lord King."

The king leaned backed and dribbled his fingers against the chair's armrests. "Well, what do they call you girl?" he asked indignantly. He raised one of his eyebrows and stared, waiting impatiently for my response.

"My name is Leonora, sir" I answered licking my lips that had become dry.

"Ah, yes Leonora. I believe I've seen you before," the king rose from where he was seated and made his way toward me. "Then again, one Graceling is just the same as another. Am I right?"

"Of course sir," I replied. The king maneuvered his way behind me, taking note to place his hand on my shoulder. It sickened me to his rough hand rested on me. It took all my will to not brush it off of me.

"What do you think your destiny is Leonora?" he asked glancing up toward the ceiling. I frowned, wondering why this question pertained to anything.

"I do not know my Lord King." The king roughly grabbed my shoulders with both his hands and spun me around to face him. With one hand he took hold of my chin and leaned it back, forcing our eyes to meet.

"What color are my eyes, Leonora?" he asked widening his eyes. I stared for a minute. His eyes told a story, as everyone's do. They said that this man is in a search for power and that he feels more powerful when he makes people feel worse about them. They said that this man thinks everything he does is right and everyone else is erroneous.

"They are brown sir," I finally responded. The king nodded.

"Yes, yes they are. Brown is a brilliant color. You see, Leonora, my eyes tell my destiny. My destiny is to rule Wester with an iron fist. My destiny is to find a lover and produce a mighty son to bear the throne to when I pass. My destiny is to keep my people in line. Now, what color are your eyes Leonora?" he waited for me to answer. I licked my lips and swallowed before answering.

"Red and black sir," I could feel tears start to swell in my eyes but I refused to let them fall.

"Exactly! Leonora, you are nothing more than a Graceling. Your two eye colors make people want to avoid you. You have no future, no destiny. I've observed that you have been running in my castle, making a ruckus and distracting the normal people who are in my castle. This cannot be tolerated." The king tightened his grip on my shoulders, most likely causing them to bruise. "If there are anymore reports of you I promise you will highly regret it. Do you understand me?"

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. "Good," the king released his grip on me, "now go to your room, no dinner tonight, no breakfast in the morning." He shoved me out toward the door. I walked quickly out the door until I met the hallway, where I set out on a dead sprint. I did not stop until I landed in the safety of my shared room and dug my face into my pillow.

** :D**

**Soooooo…. Did I do good? Do I deserve a cookie? Please say yes because I really want one. LOL anyways, I would like to thank ****smileysgoboing for reviewing my story and giving me good feedback. (Sorry I didn't mention you at the beginning) But thanks to everyone who reads my stories and supports me. You guys are the only things keeping my going, and I really mean that. No matter how sketchy that sounds. But anyway you guys please continue to support me by reviewing and PMing me. Thanks so much! **

Peace. Love. Dusty.

(O_0)

If you read this please comment: Any names you would like me to use…..any graces you would like me to use…any stories you would like me to read….anything else you want me to know…Nice weather we are having.


	3. The Dream

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the amazing ideas of Graceling or the books or settings that are mentioned. However I did make up most of the characters. But not all of them **

**Hey you guys! Welcome to chapter three of Acceptance. Thank you to all the people who continue to comment, you guys rock! I'll try to keep this short and sweet so here is the third chapter of Acceptance. **

**PS: Please comment me happy birthday because by the time I upload this it should be that special time! Thanks.**

**This is a line to tell you that the story is starting and fanfiction cannot delete it. :D**

**Acceptance**

My room, if you could call it that, was nothing special. A small window was placed high up on a wall, so that nobody could run away. There was a brown, round carpet in the center of the room and a small green plant beside one of the beds. There were four beds, one for me and each of my roommates, all Graced of course.

I laid my face flat into my pillow allowing salty tears to stream down from my eyes. My eyes. The sign of my disease, my curse, my malady. If it wasn't for my eyes I would be a normal girl. I would be with my family, having fun, going to school, being free. Instead I'm cooped up here with no future, no family, and no freedom. As I surrounded myself with tears and self pity, I didn't hear the door open as one of my roommates entered. The only reason I knew she was there was because I felt weight protrude next to me. I stopped my tears for a second to lift my head and see who it was. The smiling face next to me was my oldest roommate, Ryanne.

She was 18 years old with auburn hair that was now pulled back into a high ponytail. She had heavenly blue and green eyes that sparkled when in the right light. Surely if she wasn't Graced she would have been courted already. She reminded me so much of the older sister I no longer had. I positioned myself so that I was sitting up and Ryanne comforted me in her arms.

"I heard what happened with the king," Ryanne started, stroking my hair. _I guess news travels fast in this castle._ "It also helps when you can read minds." I felt her smile against my head. I didn't care if Ryanne poked at my brain. I didn't hide anything from her and I felt like I could talk to her about anything. I just felt it as a mother who knows everything.

"I'm not worried about the king," I muffled into her shoulder, "I'm just worried about what he said. He's telling the truth, I have no future." Ryanne shook her head.

"That's not true, Nora. You have a future, something will happen, I just know it." I knew that what she was saying wasn't true, but I decided to play along anyway.

"You really think so?" I mocked confidence.

"I know so," Ryanne confirmed. Slowly she rose from the bed leaving me to stare up at her. "Now, I have to get to dinner. I'll try to sneak you something, okay."

"Alright, and thank you Ryi. But one other thing," I stopped her at the door.

"Yeah," Ryanne put her hand up against the door frame and turned her head to face me.

"Don't call me Nora," I chuckled as Ryanne shook her head and left the room. As I laid myself back down on the bed contemplation consumed my thoughts; _darn it, Ryanne can read minds. She knew that I was lying. Arrrrgh. _ I planted my face into my pillow as darkness consumed me, into a far from dreamless sleep.

_I was standing alone on a large stage. The stage was indented into the ground while all the seats were raised around it. The room was styled to hold a large quantity of people. It looked as if it was built to hold meetings for the nobles or another high class gathering. Licking my lips I slowly drifted around the stage wondering what to do next. Suddenly all the lights turned off except for one spot light centered on me. Casually a figure started to emerge from the darkness. At first I was a little freaked out, but it's not like this never happens to me, its part of my Grace. So I shrugged the feeling off as the figure revealed itself to the light. It was the man with the bleeding chest from the hallway. _

"_Hello Leonora," he greeted. His voice was very welcoming, to accompany his eyes. __His aged skin was molded into a light atmosphere. Hidden years of unhappiness were etched by every deep line and wrinkle on his face. His pensive eyes never focused on anything as he seemed to be permanently lost deep into his thoughts. Though warm, it sounded as if this man had more melancholy than what was known. As if a grandfather was talking about his lost spouse, gone for many years._

"_How do you know my name?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. The man smiled as he chuckled at my question. _

"_I know a lot more about you then you think," he stated plainly. At first I was a little worried about that statement, but then I realized that he really couldn't do anything to me, considering the circumstances. _

"_Well, what do you want?" I asked crossing my arms. The man took a deep breath, as if he really didn't want to say what he really needed to. _

"_My name is Solomon Rimsky. And as you can tell, I am dead." He waited a moment to see how I would react. My eyes shifted to Rimsky's chest, still stained with blood. I can't say that I was entirely surprise; most of my loose ends were tied from that one sentence. It explained why he wasn't buckling down in pain or fainting from blood loss. I tried to have my expression remain unaltered by the given information since it wasn't the first time a dead person has shown up in my dreams. _

"_What is your purpose for being here?" I asked solemnly. Rimsky chuckled, man this guys is a real laugher. I mean I'm not that funny. "Why are you laughing?"_

"_Well, if I was your age and I saw a dead person walking around I would be pretty freaked out. To answer your first question though is a more serious answer," Rimsky paused trying to find the right words. _

"_Look, Mr. Rimsky-"_

"_Please call me Solomon."_

"_Okay, Solomon, could you please just tell me why you're here. I mean dead guys don't just randomly show up without a purpose," I was beginning to get irritated. I had enough problems to deal with without some dead guy getting in the way. _

"_Well, it's ab—your fam-." Solomon said brokenly. Suddenly I felt wind pick up making my hair brush up against my eyes. Wait why is there wind in my dream. _

"_I can't understand you!" I shouted against the wind. I through my hands in front of my face in an attempt to block the wind that was getting stronger by the second. _

"_I—weak. It to-k - -ch power." Solomon attempted to say. His words were to broken up for me to understand him, but I did make out that he said that he was to weak. _

"_How are you too weak? You're a ghost!" I screamed. _

"_Take-s t- - energy. You- -av head—che. Rem—ber - FAMILY!" that was the last thing I heard Solomon say before everything went black. _

"Nora, Nora are you okay?" I heard a voice call me. I didn't care, all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. "Nora!" I felt the voice grab my shoulders and shake me back and forth.

"I'm up, I'm up where's the fire?" I hollered sitting up in my bed and rubbing my eyes. Yawning I sat up in my bed and glanced around my room. A pain struck my head that instently made me lay back down.

"Are you okay Nora?" I turned my head to the side to see all three of my roommates standing in front of my bed. Gwen, the one who just spoke to me, was clutching hands with her twin sister, Quin. Both girls had one blue eye and one green eye, except Gwen's right eye was blue and Quin's right eye was green, both of their eyes were wide. They both have strawberry blondish red hair that was swept over their right eye.

I smiled, "I'm fine you guys. I just have a headache, that's all." I looked up at Ryanne, who still had a worried expression plastered on her face. "What's up with you guys?" Ryanne slowly sat down on the bed and put her hand against my forehead. "What are you doing?" I asked folding my eyebrows in wonder.

"Nora," I Ryanne spoke softly, "You've been asleep for over 15 hours."

"What!" I sprung up from the bed but the dizziness from my headache caused me to immediately lie back down.

**Acceptance**

**This is a line to tell you that the chapter is ended and fanfiction cannot delete it :D **

**So, do I deserve a cookie? Sorry it took a while to post but I have had so much homework. But If you guys live in 30 states in the U.S Have you seen all the snow! I thought that we were going to get a light dusting of snow but I have two days off of school! I know right! Two whole freaking days of school off! But please review because I think I am doing a good job but IDK! SO I love you all and I hope that you will ontinue to support me**

Peace. Love. Dusty.

(O_0)

If you read this please comment: Any names you would like me to use…..any graces you would like me to use…any stories you would like me to read….anything else you want me to know…

**. **


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